How to Ace a Telephone Interview



Posted: Sunday, November 22, 2009

by
FoundCareer

A lot of people underestimate the importance of a telephone interview. For some reason, there's this perception among many that you don't have to be prepared. Perhaps they believe that a telephone interview is just a formality that takes place before a face-to-face meeting. But that's just not true. Just because you get a telephone interview doesn't mean you're guaranteed to be invited to a face-to-face meeting. Employers and recruiters use phone interviews as a means to screen job candidates. If you blow your telephone interview, you will not get a face-to-face. For that reason, it's just as important to be prepared for a phone interview as it is for a face-to-face. Here are some tips to help you prepare for your telephone interview:

1.     Always schedule the call to give yourself enough time to research the company and the opportunity thoroughly. It's not uncommon to get a request to have a telephone interview the same day you're notified that they want to speak with you. That may be fine if you have enough time to do some research, but it's best to give yourself a few days to do your due diligence.

2.     Find out who will be on the call. Get their names and titles. It's particularly important to find out if multiple people will be participating in the phone interview on behalf of the employer. Be prepared for that possibility. It's important to know exactly who will be interviewing you so that you will be prepared to answer various types of questions. For example, you may be on the call with a Human Resources representative and the VP of the department that's looking to hire someone.

3.     Avoid taking the call from a cell phone unless you're absolutely certain that your connection is good and that you won't get disconnected. Also make sure there are no background noises. It's obviously best to avoid having the call in a public place.

4.     You may be asked the same types of questions that an interviewer would ask in a face-to-face meeting, so be sure to have responses ready for the most commonly asked interview questions such as what are your strengths, why do you want this job, etc. There are lots of great books that can help you come up with well thought out answers to these types of questions.

5.     The interviewer may ask you if you have any questions, so prepare a list of questions that demonstrate your interest in the opportunity.

6.     Keep a copy of your resume by your side. The interviewer may ask you questions about things you wrote in your resume so have it handy.

7.     A telephone interview is a preliminary step in the process for the employer so it's usually not a good idea to attempt to get details about compensation. However, it is ok to ask what the salary range for the position is in order to establish whether or not you're interested in pursuing the opportunity any further.

8.     Never interrupt the interviewer. Allow two or three seconds after the person finishes speaking before you say anything. Just be careful not to allow for long silent pauses, which can be uncomfortable.

9.     At the end of the interview, assuming you're interested in the position, ask the interviewer what next steps are and when they expect to start conducting face-to-face interviews.

10.   Don't forget to thank the interviewer for his or her time and let them know you look forward to hearing from them.
 
Andrea writes for FoundCareer, the leader in free to post job boards. Read Andrea's article How to Write a Great Resume Using a Free Word Resume Template
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